Katana
by AnarchyZebra
Summary: Hiei, a cold, distant Fire Apparition who is not even supposed to be alive. Taught nothing of love, compassion, or kindness. A heart of ice, and a soul of a raging flame. Nothing could melt his heart or tame his soul... or so it was thought.
1. Chapter 1

_Blood, _Hiei thought as he ran into the forest several meters away from the yard of the Rekai Tantei mansion. _I smell blood. _The fire apparition slowed his pace as the scent got stronger. _It's definitely fresh. But it's not human. Nor is it demon. What is it? _

Eventually, Hiei slowed to a walk when it smelled as if it were right in front of him. He stopped when he reached a small clearing. The scent was indeed strongest here. He turned his head and looked around. The delightful, metallic scent was coming from a large bush across the clearing, it seemed.

He put a reassuring grip on the handle of his katana and took several slow steps towards the bush. Nothing had jumped out at him... yet. He took his hand from his katana and parted the branches slowly. He saw a small trail of drops of the crimson liquid begin a few feet away. His mind was telling him to leave it alone, but his demonic, bestial instincts led him on to follow the warm, alluring scent.

Hiei followed the scent for a few more meters until he found the source. He stopped and looked at what lay before him. Lying in the middle of a pool of crimson blood was a small, still, silvery grey form. Its fur was matted with blood and mud from the recent storm. Its back was to him, letting him see only the pointed ears and fluffy tail. He made a wide circle around it to see the front of it. He knelt down on the ground and examined it closer. It was a young wolf pup, definitely not old enough to live on its own. Where was its pack? Had it been abandoned? Had they turned on it?

It took a moment for Hiei to realize that it was small for it's probable age. It looked like it was supposed to be about two or three months old, seeing as it wasn't a bear-like furball. _Did the pack kill it because it is small? _Hiei thought._ But if that's the case, wouldn't they have just killed it at birth? _He looked around the clearing and sniffed the air. _I smell mountain lion. It must have attacked the pack. _He looked at the pup again. _Then... why did they leave it back here to die? _He looked at the trail of blood from the rest of the pack. It headed onwards. There was no sign of any one of them stopping. Had they been pursued?

Hiei shrugged the matter off and took out his katana. He raised it over his head and plunged it down into the moist, blood soaked earth. He drug it back towards him, beginning to dig a hole to bury the pup in. He eventually got it the size of a shoe box when he heard a high pitched whimper. He stopped digging and looked on the ground at the small pup. It made no movement or noise. He put the katana in the sheath and knelt down by the pup again. He put his hand on its side and felt it taking small breaths and then felt the fast heartbeat that small creatures often have.

_It's... alive? What do I do? _he thought. He took off his cloak and laid it on the ground. Then he carefully picked up the small pup and heard it whimper again. He placed it on his cloak and wrapped it gently and securely. Hiei picked it up and started towards the mansion. _Now to sneak it in without waking the others up, _he thought. _Yusuke and Kuwabara won't wake up, but I'm not quite sure about the fox... I did leave my window open tonight, right?_

A few minutes later, the fire apparition arrived at the back yard of the mansion. He looked up to his window and saw that he had indeed left it open. He jumped up into the tree next to it and went inside. He laid the pup on the bed and folded an extra blanket up and put it on the floor of his bare closet. Then he snuck into the hallway and grabbed a first aid kit out of the closet. He closed the door and went back into his own room. He turned the light on and opened the small white tin.

His face went blank when he saw the contents. The only thing he recognized were the bandages, tape, and gauze. He saw a small bottle of clear liquid and opened it. He sniffed it and nearly gagged. He immediately closed the bottle and put it on the bed. That was indeed the scent of the foul-smelling, burning liquid that had often been put on his wounds by Yukina, Botan, Kurama, or anyone else who had caught him sneaking in after getting wounded. Then he remembered that they had often used white, fuzzy balls to put the liquid on. He found a small bag of those and put it outside of the tin. He put out the bandages, tape, and gauze as well.

Hiei opened his cloak and saw how dirty the pup was. He went into the bathroom of his room and filled the tub with about an inch of warm water. He placed the small silver-grey pup in the water, making sure that he held the head up, and poured a handful of water on its side. The pup fidgeted and Hiei continued trying to wash the mud and the blood off of its fur. He then realized that warm water only made blood flow faster. He rinsed the pup off and laid it on a towel. He rubbed it as dry as he could without spreading the crimson shade all over its body. Then he put it back on his cloak and tried his best to clean out the wounds. When he moved one of the pup's hind legs to assure that it wasn't broken, he saw that the pup was a small female. He moved the other hind leg and saw that she had no broken limbs.

Hiei sighed. He was finally done. He looked at his work and his eye twitched a little. It wasn't exactly the best bandaging job he'd seen but it certainly wasn't... Oh, the hell with it! It was the worst bandaging job the world would ever know. _I bet Kuwabara could have even done better, _Hiei thought, sighing. _Oh well. It's not like it's my own fault. I've never helped a person or animal in this way in my life. _He looked at the closet, completely bare except for the blanket he laid down and then at the pup. He looked back at the closet again and saw the corner of a cardboard box with no lid.

He grabbed the box out of his closet after he took a knife out of his dresser drawer and began to cut a doorway in one of the narrower sides of the box, big enough for the pup to walk in and out of. He scrunched up the blanket a little and put the box completely over it. He walked over to the bed to pick the pup up and looked at her.

_Why am I doing this? _he thought. _I've never saved anyone or anything before in my life. I've never even thought of it. _He looked at the pup thoughtfully. _Maybe it's because she reminds me... of myself. _

Hiei then remembered being thrown off of the Koorime Island days after birth. He had been found by the thieves. He had been taught nothing of compassion. He had been trained to fight, to steal, to kill. He then became too good at them for his own well being and then was rejected by the only "family" he had ever known. This pup had been rejected by her own pack as well, and by the look of it, turned on as well.

Hiei sighed and then picked up the small, silver-grey wolf pup and lifted the box. He laid her on the blanket and then placed the box over her. He turned the closet light off and shut the door. He then realized that he could not tell anyone about this. Not only did he not want to force himself to tolerate the taunts and teasing of the two bakas, but he didn't want to risk the "Wild Animals Are Not Pets" lectures that he had heard from Kurama and Botan when Kuwabara brought in a lynx kitten and Yusuke had brought in a snake. Nor did he want to have to have Kurama take it to a shelter and get it "euthanized". Whatever that meant. But he had heard the word before and by the tone of the voices in the conversation and the scent of graveness in the air, it did not seem like it would be in the pup's best interest. _Besides_, Hiei thought, _It's not like I'm going to keep the pup, anyway. It doesn't seem like the thing will even make it through the night._

The fire apparition looked at the digital clock on his night stand and read the red squared numbers. They read three thirty seven. How long ago did he go out to begin his walk? He shrugged and sat on the window seat after closing the window. He leaned against the wall and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Hiei woke up on his windowsill. He yawned and wondered why his clothes smelled of mud and blood and wolf, having forgotten the events of the last night due to an unusually deep sleep. He awoke fully and his acute demon hearing picked up a high pitched squeaking noise. The last night came back to him soon after that. _The pup... Did it survive? _Hiei thought. He quietly walked over to his closet and opened the door. He saw a little grey head looking at him from the safety of the cardboard box.

Hiei knelt down and tipped the box over slowly. The pup was looking at him, her blue eyes wide and her entire body trembling. Her whimpering grew a little louder. Hiei reached over and let the pup sniff his hand. Her small, wet nose quivered and she opened her mouth and sank her sharp puppy teeth into his hand. The fire apparition gritted his teeth and the pup let go. She looked at him fearfully, unsure of what this furless, two legged creature was.

Hiei looked at his hand and saw that there were only small imprints from the small pup's teeth. They had not broken the skin. Either they weren't sharp enough, or she didn't have enough strength to bite down hard enough to defend herself. He saw that she was still trembling and whimpering. How was he to calm her down? He tried hard to think of what to do. He then remembered that Kuwabara had a pet cat. He also remembered Kuwabara talking to it to keep it relaxed or to help it fall asleep. _I have to _talk _to her? How the hell would that help? _Hiei thinks. He sighs and shrugs. _It's worth a shot. But what am I supposed to say to her? Do I give her a name or something?_ _I am definitely not talking to this wolf as Kuwabara talks to that poor cat._

Hiei shuddered as he thought of when Kurama convinced him to go to movie night at Kuwabara's house. As soon as that poor calico cat, Eikichi, came out, with the silver bells on her collar jingling, Kuwabara scooped the cat up and started talking to it in the most disgusting tone Hiei had ever heard. The sounds and words haunted him through nightmares. He could have sworn that his ears had been bleeding. Luckily, he hadn't eaten anything that day that he could have thrown up.

Okay. He decided not to talk to the pup like a pet. He didn't want to end up like Kuwabara. Then what was he supposed to do? _With my luck, she'll start howling for her mother and father and the rest of her pack, someone will hear her, and then I'll get a lecture, and Kurama will resort to "euthanasia". That word... Why does it sound so... Horrible? What does it mean? Do I even want to know? _He looked at the pup again and saw that she was trying to chew through the bandages on her right foreleg.

"Don't do that," he whispered. He put his index finger under her chin and lifted her head away from her leg. Her eyes widened and she looked at him. Her ears perked up and then went back down against her head. _So, talking to them like people is the best way to go? _he thought. He then remembered all of the movies that he was forced to watch on movie night. In all of them, people talked to their dogs and cats. They would consider something out loud and look at the animals and then ask what they thought. He looked at her once more and saw that she had begun to tremble again. He put his hand out again and rubbed her left ear with his thumb and index finger.

"Am I supposed to feed you now?" he asked. For some reason, he didn't feel like an ass talking to something that couldn't talk back. He supposed that it was only natural to try and communicate with a living thing. The pup was looking up at him again. This time, though, she didn't look away. She sat there and stared at him. She wasn't trembling anymore. Perhaps him talking to her had calmed her? Or was she confused and scared?

_What do I feed her, anyway? _Hiei thought. _Is she even old enough to eat solid food? _He gently opened her mouth and saw that her baby teeth were fully grown in, rather than just popping through her gums. _That must mean she can eat, right? If not... I'll grind some meat up with a rock or something. Kurama usually cooks bacon or sausage or some form of meat or egg in the morning. I don't normally come down for breakfast... I suppose I might just bring it up in here. They might not be suspicious if I "eat" alone. _

Hiei looked at his clock. It was eight thirty six. Everyone else was probably just getting up. He put the box over the pup again and closed his closet door after turning the light on for her. He walked out of his room and downstairs. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting on the couch in the living room, arguing over which channel to put on. Kurama, of course, was in the kitchen cooking. How a man could put up with cooking, Hiei would never know. Sometimes the fire apparition swore that Kurama's human body was meant to be female until Youko's soul inhibited it. He had decided to keep that comment to himself whenever it came into his mind. He sat on one of the kitchen chairs and tilted it back. He heard a soft thud as the top of the back of the chair hit the wall. Kurama looked back after he turned the stove off.

"You're up later than usual today, Hiei," the kitsune said.

"I was taking a walk from one until three thirty or so in the morning."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Hiei replied, placing the chair back in its normal position.

"Do you plan on eating today?"

"Maybe. If I do, it won't be out here."

Kurama sighed. He had always been concerned with Hiei. He never seemed to eat. The only things he could get Hiei to eat or dink were energy drinks. Hiei didn't care about the caffeine, sugar, or vitamins. He didn't even take the "energy" part of it literally. Kurama nearly laughed to himself at remembering when he, Kuwabara, and Yusuke had convinced him to go to the mall. The poor demon had thought that they were going to see a human be mauled by a vicious, crazed beast.

After everything was put out, Yusuke and Kuwabara came in the room. Hiei went up to his room, a small plate of bacon in his right hand, and two cherry Jolt energy drinks tucked under his left arm.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiei stepped into his room quietly and shut the door as silently as he possibly could. He put his drinks and the plate of bacon down on his bed and waited for a moment. His blood colored eyes locked on to the closet door. He waited and stared at the door. It took a few minutes and he began to wonder if the wolf had even lived for those few minutes of his absence. He was about to go check when he heard what he was waiting for.

A high pitched series of whimpers sounded out quietly from the other side of the door. This was followed by a light scratching on the door. _She must have smelled the meat, _Hiei thought. _The poor thing must really be hungry._ _Did I just call her a... poor thing? Why do I even care about this wolf? I only saved her because leaving it there to die was wrong. But then again, so is leaving someone you just fought on the ground, bleeding and suffering, and watching them die. Why is this wolf so different? No matter. The thing is probably starving._

Hiei walked to the opposite side of his room and opened the closet door. The pup was sitting at the doorway, her nose quivering in the air, looking for the precious food that she smelled. Hiei crouched down and picked her up. She whimpered, scared, and looked up at him. She struggled to get down. He held her a little tighter and brought her over to the bed. He laid her down and put the plate of bacon on his lap.

The fire apparition watched the pup get up and waddle over to him with her eyes locked on the plate. He puled a small piece of bacon off of a strip and held it out to her. She wasn't expecting his hand to come towards her, so she fell over with surprise. Hiei stopped his hand about an inch from her mouth. Her nose quivered as she pulled her head closer to the bacon. In a quick instant, she opened her tiny jaws and grabbed the meat away from him and laid down to eat her prize.

When she finished her food, Hiei pulled off another tiny piece and held it out to her. This time she took it without hesitation. She did walk away a few steps to lie down and eat it, though. She came back before Hiei even had a piece of bacon pulled out for her. She sat down and looked at up him, waiting for the food. She didn't know what this strange creature was, but she was getting food from it. That was good enough for her.

Hiei put the plate of bacon next to him and scooped up the pup with one hand. He placed her in his lap and she attempted to get down until he held out another piece of bacon. She took it and stayed where she was, propped up on Hiei's lap by a hand underneath her front legs. Hiei fed her this way for a few more minutes until the entire plate of bacon was gone. She whimpered and looked at him, waiting for more. He reached his hand out to pull off a chunk that had fallen on her paw, and she immediately began licking his fingers once he gave her the small chunk.

When she had licked all of the bacon grease off of Hiei's fingers, he put her down on the bed and she waddled around as puppies do. She sat down ad whimpered after scanning the whole bed. _What's wrong with her now? _Hiei thought, confused. She had been fed, her wounds were bandaged, she had slept. What else did she need? She licked her lips and lied down whimpering again. Hiei looked at the plate and saw that it was still wet with bacon grease. The grease reminded him of water. He looked at the pup, who was still licking her lips and whimpering.

_She's thirsty, I bet, _Hiei thought. He looked at the plate again and picked it up. He went into his bathroom and rinsed if off in the sink. He put a thin layer of water on the dish, making a puddle in the dipped in area. He brought it out and placed it on the bed next to the pup. She looked at it and sniffed it. She shakily rose to her feet and started drinking the water quickly. Hiei noticed that the bandages around her stomach were becoming loose and falling off. _Do I replace them or do I let them fall off? _he thought. _I'll let them fall off and see how she does. If she starts biting her wounds open, I'll put more on. Damn... What if someone notices the missing first aid kit and bandages? I'll say I had a training accident. But I have no wounds. Should I make one? _He looked at his katana. _Would I really inflict a wound upon myself for an animal? _He looked at the small silver-grey pup. She was licking the last of the water drops off of the plate. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

_She's like a wolf form of Yukina, _Hiei thought. _Small, defenseless, and with those eyes that you can't help but try and save. I guess I have to do this, then. I've already saved her and brought her here. It wouldn't be right to dump her out in the woods after she's healed. She'll be too dependent on me and not know how to fend for herself. It looks like I'll be stuck with her. I might as well get this over with._

Hiei grabbed his katana and hesitated before taking the blade into his hand and making a large gash in his inner arm. He gritted his teeth in pain and looked at the pup. "You're lucky I have this honor code, runt," he said to her, putting his katana down on the floor. "Or you'd be in the woods in a hole right now."

He walked into his bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit that he had used the previous night. He took the bandages and quickly and tightly wrapped his wound over the marble sink. He didn't worry about the horribly smelling, stinging liquid to clean it. He had to hurry with his wound, seeing as he didn't want blood to be all over in case someone came into his room. When he finished wrapping his wound, he turned the sink on to let the drops of blood wash away.

When he came out of the bathroom, he saw the pup. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and the bandages that had been wrapped around the top of her head were now falling over her right eye. Hiei looked at her and sat on the opposite side of the bed. He looked at his wound and saw that the blood was already seeping through the bandages. The pup sniffed the air and locked her blue eyes on the crimson bandages on Hiei's arm. She ran at him as fast as her little puppy legs would take her.


	4. Chapter 4

The pup finally stopped when she tripped over a fold in the blanket of the bed. She lifted her head and began licking the wound on Hiei's arm through the bandages. Eventually she crawled up into his lap and began to try and clean the wound.

_What the... Why is she acting like a dog? _Hiei thought, staring down at the small silver wolf pup. He picked her up by her armpits and held her a few inches in front of his face and looked her in the eye. She whimpered and squirmed to get down and then stopped. She tilted her head to the side and whimpered. Then she leaned forwards and licked the tip of Hiei's nose. She pulled her head back and looked at him, with her little pink tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.

Hiei stared at her blankly. _She trusts me? She wants to be near me? Why? She's a wild animal, shouldn't she hate humans and demons? _he thought. _Is something wrong with her? _

"_Kuwabara, you can't keep that lynx kitten here," Kurama said to the taller orange-haired boy as he looked up at him, holding the wild kitten that he found roaming the living room. _

"_Why not? It's just the same as any cat, only a little bigger."_

"_No, it's not. It's a wild animal. It obviously has a family looking for it at such a young age. How would you feel if someone were to come along and take your child away?"_

"_I... I wouldn't like it, I guess," Kuwabara said._

"_And what would happen if you kept it here until it grew. What if something happened and we had to get rid of it? It would be so used to getting fed by us that it wouldn't know how to hunt, and eventually it'll starve to death out in the wild. Or it might keep and follow its instincts and hurt someone, like Puu. Lynxes are used to hunting birds and rabbits, and Puu looks like a mix of the two. You wouldn't want Yusuke's Spirit Beast to die, would you?"_

"_...No..."_

"_Then put this kitten back where you found it, Kuwabara," Kurama said, handing the small brownish-grey, spotted kitten to his friend. Kuwabara nodded and took the kitten outside to put it back in the woods._

_Hiei got off of the couch and walked up to his room._

_Is that what's going to happen to her? _Hiei thought. He looked at the pup. _But I can't just put it outside in this condition. That isn't right. What if its pack attacked it? Also, dogs are basically trained, evolved wolves. She'll be fine indoors for now. If Kurama doesn't see her, that is._

Hiei put the now squirming pup down and she toddled over to his pillow and curled up in a ball on top of it. He watched her fall asleep and frowned. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and grabbed her quickly, making her yelp out in surprise. He ran to his closet, put her on her blanket, put the box over her, and turned his light out and closed the door.

He walked back over to his bed and sat on it, grabbing a Jolt and opening it. The door opened soon after and Kurama walked in.

"You actually ate?" he asked, surprised, upon seeing the empty plate lying on Hiei's bed. The fire apparition shrugged and took a sip of his drink. The kitsune sighed. "You know, Hiei, constantly drinking those things can't be good for you."

"They're the only thing in the human and spirit worlds that I enjoy the taste of," Hiei replied.

"And what if you drink yourself into a diabetic coma?"

"Then I'll be in a coma and possibly die," Hiei replied. "Anything would be better than being stuck here."

Kurama said nothing and took the empty plate off of Hiei's bed and walked out of the room. _At least he ate breakfast today. Come to think of it, I don't ever think I've seen him eat anything. I hope he's not one of the demons that hunts and eats raw meat, _Kurama thought. He shuddered at an image of Hiei crouching over a freshly killed deer and eating it raw that popped into his head. _No. Not even he would do that. Right?_

Right after the door of the room closed, Hiei heard the familiar scratching and whining noises of the small pup in his closet. _Is the thing really _that _pathetic? Is it going to cry whenever it thinks it's alone? _He sighed and walked over to his closet and opened the door. This time the pup came running out and started licking the tops of his bare feet and trying to jump up at him. _I'm stuck with her now, aren't I? _he thought. _Wonderful. Just fucking wonderful..._


	5. Chapter 5

The pup whimpered and whined and continued trying to jump up at Hiei. He just blankly stared down at her as she finally stood still on her hind legs with her front paws resting against his right shin. Her blue eyes locked onto his red ones and they stared at each other silently until she whimpered quietly and lowered her fuzzy silver ears. Hiei didn't know why, but he reached down and picked her up.

_Do wolves have the ability to control people? I know they can make their prey freeze by looking into their eyes, but what the hell was that? _he thought. _No. This thing looks too young and dumb to know how to do anything like that. _

The pup whimpered again and wriggled. She gave up and dove forwards and rested her paws on Hiei's right shoulder and tried pulling herself closer to him. Hiei pulled her away and looked at her again. She shivered and squirmed more until Hiei realized that he was holding her by the two spots on each of her sides that she was probably held by when her attacker had gotten a hold of her. He quickly and gently out her down on his bed and she stopped crying and looked up at him.

"I'm going to put you in the closet now," Hiei whispered. "Stay quiet."

The pup tilted her head to the side and whimpered in reply.

Hearing footsteps come up the stairs, Hiei quickly scooped up the pup and put her in the closet. He quickly closed the door and sat on his bed, drinking a bit of his Jolt as he blankly stared off into space. His door was opened rather quickly, and rudely, for that matter, by a large, orange haired, bumbling idiot.

"C'mon, Hiei! We're going out with the girls to the mall and stuff today!" Kuwabara shouted.

"I don't want to go, baka."

"Too bad. Kurama's making everyone go."

"Screw you."

Without another word, Kuwabara picked Hiei up and slung him over his shoulder. The fire apparition growled and dug his nails into Kuwabara's back, making the human yell out and drop him. When Kuwabara came running at him, Hiei stuck his foot out, causing the idiot to trip and fall down the stairs to the first floor.

"_You bastard!" _Kuwabara screamed from his place on the first floor stair landing.

Hiei sighed and walked to his room and shut the door. He spied a small empty glass bowl that had once contained Ramen noodles sent to his room when he slept in one day. He had dumped the noodles out of his window. Something had eaten them before nightfall that day.

He took the bowl and rinsed it in his bathroom sink. Then he filled it with water and put it on the small table next to his closet. He opened the door and caught the wolf pup as she toddled out as quickly as her little legs and sore muscles would let her. He took off the dangling bandages and put her back on the crumpled blanket on his closet floor as he used his other hand to grab a pair of his plain black shoes. He tossed the shoes onto the floor behind him and put the water bowl next to the wolf's blanket.

Taking advantage of her eager sprint to the water bowl, he grabbed a pair of socks from his floor and slipped them on. As he was tying his second shoe, he felt the pup pawing his back. He looked back at her and she sat on her haunches and whimpered. _Attention whore, _he thought as he finished tying his shoe and turned to scratch behind her ear. He heard the slight thumping of her tail hitting the floor be joined by the louder thumping of her foot copying the action. _She really is like a dog, after all._

"Hey, Hiei," Yusuke shouted from the other side of his door.

"What?" the fire apparition replied in an annoyed tone.

"Come on, Kurama's got the car started. If you make us wait any longer, you're sitting in the back with Kuwabara."

"I'm coming. Let me finish putting my shoes on, detective."

"Alright."

Hiei pushed the small silver pup back into the closet and stood up. He pushed the door to close it and walked towards his bedroom door. He opened it and walked out. He didn't look at the Spirit Detective. He just pushed his door to the frame and followed the other boy outside.

_Well, so far, so good. No one knows about the pup yet. Maybe I can secretly give her to Yukina to take care of back at the Koorime Island? _the Fire Apparition thought to himself. There. Now he had everything planned out perfectly. Bring the pup to Yukina the next time he saw her, explain everything, give it to her, and then it would be out of his hair forever. Perfect. Nothing could go wrong now, there would be no trouble, right? Except for one tiny fact: neither of the doors had actually closed.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiei sat against the door of the car with his arms folded. He looked out of the window boredly and watched the scenery pass by. Tree. Tree. Fire hydrant. Mailbox. Woman with a toy poodle. He sighed. _Why do I have to come on these stupid little trips? _he thought.

"Are you alright, Hiei?" Kurama asked, looking back at him and then back at the road.

"I know you don't like coming on these trips, but Koenma recommended taking you shopping, to arcades, and such to build up your people skills. And possibly to find something you enjoy besides constantly training and getting injured."

"Whatever."

"Geez, Hiei. Hey, Kurama, how about we take him right to Hot Topic for clothes?" Yusuke asked. "He'll feel right at home there with all of the other emo kids."

"Yeah. Then we can get him some Marilyn Manson, My Chemical Romance, and other emo music to put on that iPod he never opened."

"..." Hiei didn't reply. He continued to look blankly out of the window.

"Will you two please stop?" Kurama asked. "Just... leave him alone. It's bad enough for him that he has to come. You know how he can't stand either of you two, Botan, Keiko, or Shizuru."

"What does he have against my sister?" Kuwabara shouted.

"Her smoking habit. The scent of that disgusting smoke on her clothes, her person, and even the air around her makes me want to vomit until I die," Hiei snapped. "Not to mention the fact that she's related to _you_."

"How does that bother you?!"

"Kuwabara, Hiei isn't human, remember?" Yusuke asked. "His senses are stronger than ours. It's no wonder he's always at least ten feet away from your sister. She does smoke a lot."

"Can you just drop me off here so I can walk back?" Hiei asked.

"No. But Yusuke did have a good idea. You could use clothes. All you have are a few pairs of pants, shirts, and boxers. Some new shoes would work as well."

Hiei growled to himself almost inaudibly before turning back to the window. _Why me? I don't even know how the hell to use that iPod thing they gave me. It took me months to figure out that "laptop" and the "Internet". Are they trying to turn me into one of them? Is this all some sort of game for Koenma? To tame a demon and turn it into one of his "dogs", as those in the Makai called all of the Spirit Detectives?_

Kurama pulled the car into a parking space and turned the engine off. All four boys got out of the car and began walking to meet the girls at the front door of the mall. For the sake of Hiei's delicate nose, Shizuru wasn't there. Hiei lagged behind a bit, looking down at his feet as he walked. _I can't believe we're coming here again. Why the hell did they call this place a mall? There are no humans getting torn to shreds by demons or animals. Only a bunch of shops and places to eat... What a stupid world this is..._

"Are you okay, Hiei-Sama?" Yukina asked when he finally caught up to everyone else. He shrugged his reply and looked out to the parking lot.

"He's fine. He just hates it here," Yusuke said.

"I don't need clothes or shoes. I'm fine with what I have," Hiei said, looking over to Kurama. "So can I just go home?"

"Hiei, in the past four years that you've been here, you've grown taller, and your clothes are beginning to get shorter for you. Wouldn't you prefer something that will fit you better?" Botan asked.

Hiei shrugged again. As much as he hated to admit it... she was right. He was now about two or three inches away from being the same height as Kurama, meaning that he was slightly taller than Yusuke. For the first team physical that Koenma had so graciously required, the three other members of Team Urameshi were more than surprised to find out that demons weren't fully grown until the age of one hundred. Seeing as Yukina had never had a child because of the Koorime one hundred year cycle, none of them had a clue as to how much longer Hiei had left to reach his full size. He still never said anything about his age.

"Well, let's go then. We can take you into Hot Topic, Journeys, Spencer's, and Nirvana's closet for clothes," Keiko said brightly.

"Whatever..." Hiei said. "It's not like I have a choice, anyway."

"Come on, there's bound to be something you'll like in those stores," Botan said to Hiei.

"And how do you know that?" the fire apparition asked.

"Because the girls are terrified of those places," Yusuke said, laughing. "The music scares them, and they got nightmares from the 'Happy Tree Friends' DVD I got there."

"Really? Maybe those stores are more interesting than I thought," Hiei said, raising an eyebrow.


	7. Chapter 7

When the team got home from the mall, Hiei looked at Kurama from the passenger side of the car. "How come you never told me about those stores?"

"Because you'd always sit in the food court at a table and fall asleep. We were afraid to wake you until it was time to go."

"Oh. Why didn't you ever tell me on the way?"

"We never thought of it until Yusuke mentioned that you needed new clothes today. Anyway, I'll come up to your room later and show you how to use the iPod and put your CDs on it. You still have that laptop Koenma got for you, right?"

Hiei shrugged and got out of the car. He went to the trunk and found his bags amongst the others. _Now my closet won't be empty, and I'll be able to hide the wolf more easily, _he thought as he walked into the house and upstairs. He didn't think anything of his slightly open door as he kicked it open gently and put his bags on his bed. He shut his door and turned to his closet to let the wolf out and froze. _It... wasn't closed? Oh, no, where is she?! _

Hiei searched all around his room, in the corners, behind the dresser, in the closet and the bathroom, but didn't find the small wolf pup. He recalled his door being open and cursed at himself for it. He walked out of his room, trying to act as calmly as possible, even though for some reason, his heart was pounding. Then he followed the pup's scent down the hallways of the second floor, feeling relieved to find that all of their bedrooms were closed.

He felt a little uneasy as he followed her scent dangerously close to the stairs. _No. If she had fallen, she wouldn't have survived. Her body would have been there. But if she made it down, who knows where she could be? _Hiei sighed with relief as her scent turned away from the stairs. He stood at his doorway with confusion. _Her scent leads back here? She wasn't in here. Unless I overlooked her walking past me or something._

He sighed and walked into his room again. _No. Her scent from going down the wall and back to the stairs must have overlapped... Now all I can do is wait until_ _they find her and take her away. _He sat down on his bed and frowned. For some reason, something inside of him... ached a little. _Am I getting sick? Or is this what it feels like to worry about someone? Am I even worried? I... I think I actually feel... bad about this. _

The fire apparition heard footsteps approaching his bedroom door and remembered that Kurama had told him that he would help him with the laptop, iPod (which he still had no clue what it was used for or why it had such a ridiculous name, for that matter), and the CDs. He looked at the clear iPod plastic case that had been sitting on his dresser, collecting dust, since last Christmas.

_Maybe when I'm trying to figure that thing out, it'll take my mind off of her, _Hiei thought as Kurama appeared in the doorframe. The fire apparition stood from his bed and took the iPod off of his dresser. He tossed it onto his desk next to the laptop, which had begun to grow dusty once he had figured it out and immediately got bored with it.

"I brought you some lunch," Kurama said, placing a plate with a ham sandwich, a blue raspberry Jolt, and a box of strawberry Pocky on Hiei's nightstand.

"I'll eat later, I guess," the fire apparition replied, trying to hide the disgust he felt. _Just what I want to eat. A dead pig on two slices of bread. The wolf would have liked it if she were in here. Damn. I thought of it again._ He was too lost in thought to notice that Kurama had already turned the laptop on.

"Hiei, this time, can you please actually eat more than half a pack of Pocky?"

He shrugged in reply.

"Well, can you come over here with the CDs Yusuke helped you pick out?"

Hiei nodded and took the Hot Topic bag with the CDs over to Kurama. He placed it on the table and Kurama took the iPod from the box. He showed Hiei how to plug it in using the USB cable and installed iTunes for him.

"Can you hand me one of your CDs?"

Hiei grabbed one out of the bag and handed it to Kurama. When the kitsune looked at the cover, he sighed.

"What?" Hiei asked.

"Yusuke got you into Marilyn Manson?"

"He said it was probably the best thing for 'someone like me' to listen to. He took me to... FYE, I think, and he let me listen to Marilyn Manson, HIM, My Chemical Romance, and a few other 'bands'. Then he took me to that 'Hot Topic' place to buy them. He said that 'Hot Topic' usually had the lowest prices. Also, what's the difference between 'edited' and 'unedited' music?"

"Unedited music is its original form. All of the lyrics are unchanged and included in the songs," Kurama replied, tearing the plastic wrapping from the CD case. "While edited music has some words and/or phrases either cut out, replaced by an annoying noise, such as a beep, or changed."

"So I was right to get the 'unedited', then?"

"I suppose. Now look. You press this button on the side of the laptop here and wait for..." a disk tray popped out of the side of the computer. "this to pop out. Then you place the CD face up on the tray and gently push the tray back into the computer. When this screen pops up, you click 'Import CD using iTunes'. You see how the iTunes screen pops up afterwards with the names of your songs listed?"

Hiei nodded.

"Then you wait until the CD is completely imported, a notice will pop up, and then you can take it out and put another one in." Kurama clicked on the "Library" link and showed Hiei how to put songs on the iPod by clicking and dragging. He also showed him how to import more than one song at once by holding the CTRL key while selecting songs. He left the room and Hiei attempted doing this with all of his CDs.

After about an hour or so, Hiei left the desk as all of the songs were being copied to his iPod and sat on the floor against his bed. He caught a glimpse of the blanket in the closet and then he remembered the wolf and how he had lost her. _Damn, _he thought. He hung his head and leaned against the side of the bed. He opened the box of Pocky and took out a stick. He accidentally dropped it and it rolled underneath his bed. He got on his hands and knees to look under and pick it up before some rodent or roach came for it. When he looked under the bed, he froze and gasped...


	8. Chapter 8

Hiei sighed with relief and laughed at himself a little. He reached his arm under the bed and poked the small, silvery-grey form that was taking a nap there. After a few seconds, she lifted her head up and turned it around. Her tail started wagging when their eyes met and she stood and stretched. Then she toddled out from her hiding place and licked his cheek. He sat up again and picked her up.

"I thought that I had lost you," he muttered as he held her on his lap and scratched behind her ear. She looked up at him and wagged her tail. She hung her tongue out of her mouth, smiling and laughing in the traditional wolf language. Hiei couldn't help it. The corner of his mouth raised in a small, half smirk.

_Fine, _he thought. _I admit it. I like this wolf. I don't know why, but maybe it's because she reminds me of Yukina. Defenseless, innocent, harmless. _He looked down at her again to see her looking up at him.

"Or maybe because you remind me of someone I couldn't help before," he muttered. "Myself."

She whimpered a little and his acute hearing picked up the sound of her stomach growling. He reached up onto his night stand and pulled the plate with the now stale and room temperature ham sandwich. He pulled a piece of the ham from between the two slices of bread and held it out for the pup. She happily took it and ate it.

Several minutes later, the sandwich was gone, bread and all. Hiei and the pup had finished the pack of Pocky and he was letting her lick the condensation from the outside of the Jolt can. A strange noise came from the laptop on his desk and he turned to look at it. One of the window notices was up on the screen. He placed the pup on his bed and the Jolt on his night stand and walked to the laptop to see if he had accidentally broken it somehow.

_Songs copied to device: Hiei's iPod, _Hiei read. _Does that mean it's done? Am I supposed to take it out? _He clicked the little red X in the corner and the window went away. _I'll ask Kurama about it later, I suppose._ He studied the iTunes window and saw the horizontal triangle symbol that Kurama had told him stood for "play". He also remembered the kitsune telling him that he had put the iTunes play settings on "shuffle" and explained that the songs would come on randomly and not in alphabetical order.

Not wanting to scare the already napping pup, Hiei just walked away from the laptop and locked his door. He closed his curtains and walked over to his desk. Turning his lamp on, he pushed the laptop to the side. He opened the drawer to his right and took out the plain, black and white composition notebook that he had bought when he was first transferred from Koenma's palace to the team's mansion. He had been using it as a sort of journal, daily log, whatever you want to call it. He'd been neglecting it for weeks. Maybe even a month. He opened it to the next blank page, which was hardly halfway through, and picked up a black-inked, white ballpoint pen.

_I snuck out again last night, don't remember the time. I just know that I couldn't sleep. When I got out of the tree outside of my window and walked for a few meters, I smelled blood. My mind was telling me to leave it alone, but I guess my instincts and body won that battle. Again._

_I followed the scent and found what I thought was a dead wolf pup. For some reason, I began using my katana to dig a grave for her. I thought that she had died alone and deserved it. But then I heard a whimper and looked to see that she was still alive. The wounds looked worse than they really were, I suppose. The same thing that possessed me to follow the scent told me to take her back with me. I did, thinking that I could have at least made her not feel like no one wanted her if someone was with her when she died. I cleaned and bandaged her and made a little "den" for her in my closet. _

_This morning I woke up ready to take her body outside and bury it. Then I heard the same whimper again - she had survived the night. I gave her bacon and water. Then... the idiot came into my room to take me to the "mall". He tried to force me into going, but I ended up pushing him down the stairs. I wish I would have stayed to see him fall... Oh well. I had to go anyway. I was told about some stores that I actually... liked. There, I got clothes, and Yusuke showed me how to get the cheapest music for the iPod that Kurama finally got me to use._

_Then when we came home and I put my stuff in my room, I thought that I had lost the pup somewhere in the house. The closet door and my bedroom door were both open. I was walking all across the second floor, sniffing the air and trying to find her. For the first time in my life, I guess I was genuinely worried about someone other that my sister._

_After a while, I had to come back in my room. After Kurama showed me how to use that iPod thing, I opened the box of Pocky that he left in my room for me. I dropped a piece, and when I went to pick it up, I saw the wolf napping under my bed. I laughed at myself a little for not checking in the easiest place for her to hide in. _

_Well, the last thing I have to write is that... I like keeping this wolf around. For some reason, having her here makes me feel less alone. I don't know why, but... it just does. Is this what that word "friendship" means? If so, then I'm glad that she's my "friend"._

Hiei closed his journal and put the lid on his pen. He placed both items back in his drawer under

the stack of white "printer paper", as Kurama called it, and an empty sketchbook. Then he took his shoes off and turned off his desk lamp. He walked over to the bed, laid down, and fell asleep next to the wolf pup, his first friend.


	9. Chapter 9

"Dammit," Yusuke said, jiggling the doorknob. "It's locked!"

Kurama and Yusuke were knocking on Hiei's bedroom door the next morning. "Hiei, wake up. You haven't come out of your room since we came home yesterday."

Hiei groaned and lifted his head from the pillow. "What?" he asked them.

"It's time to get up," Yusuke replied.

"Why? We just went out yesterday."

"It's grocery shopping day," Kurama told him through the door.

"Have fun."

"Come on, Hiei. The girls are the ones that took you for clothes. We don't know what you picked out, and we want to see," Yusuke said.

"Leave. Me. Alone."

"Hiei, if you don't come, we're not lugging cases of your drinks into the car ourselves," Kurama threatened.

"... I'll be out in a few minutes... Let me take a shower."

"We're leaving in ten minutes. You can shower when we get back."

Hiei heard the footsteps retreat from right outside of his doorway. He growled to himself as he forced himself to rise off of his surprisingly comfortable bed, which he had used for the first time that night. The pup whined and squirmed into the warm spot that he had been laying in and let out a deep sigh.

_I'll wait until after I dress to move her, _he thought. _Then she might not whine as loudly while everyone is still in the house. _Then he saw the bags on the ground and remembered that he hadn't put his clothes away in the closet. He was too busy searching the entire top floor of the house for the pup. _I had better not turn into a Kuwabara with a wolf rather than a cat... _The very thought terrified him and made him shudder as he dug through one of the bags.

Eventually he got tired of searching through the bags and dumped them onto the bed. He found a Marilyn Manson shirt that he had gotten. For once, Yusuke had been right. He needed CDs if he was going to get shirts and jackets from Hot Topic, Spencer's, and the other stores he went to. They were almost all music related. So, he had shirts of almost all the bands he had gotten CDs for... which weren't many. But it was a start, right?

He grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and placed his own pants on the bed after taking them off. He pulled the jeans on and sighed. He wasn't used to these types of pants. They had very slim legs, and they only went up to the top of his hips. _Human clothes are so uncomfortable, _he thought. He quickly put on the black belt with silver studs on it and pulled his shirt down to at least cover the small area of his boxers that showed above his jeans. He didn't understand why the human clothes had to be so... revealing.

Hiei picked up the pup and she whimpered at being woken up. He put her in the closet and filled the same bowl with fresh water. "I'll have to feed you when I get back," he said, giving her one last scratch behind the ear before he closed the closet door. He walked to his door and opened it to see Kurama standing right in front of it. The kitsune's eyes widened a bit, seeing Hiei in human clothes.

"I was just going to knock again. Are you ready to go?" he asked. Hiei nodded. "Don't you want to bring you iPod for the ride?"

"I don't know what it's for."

"It's for listening to music wherever you are, as long as the battery doesn't run out. I recommend plugging it in every night to prevent that."

"How does the music come out?"

"Through these," Kurama replied, walking over to the desk and picking up the white headphones that were coiled up next to the laptop. "You haven't unplugged it yet?"

"It said not to disconnect it," Hiei replied quickly. _Hurry up and leave, Fox... I don't know when that pup's about to start whining... _

"All you had to do was click the button in the bottom right corner of the iTunes window, Hiei. Didn't I tell you that last night?"

"I must have stopped paying attention."

"..." Kurama pulled the white cord out of the iPod and the laptop and showed Hiei how to use the buttons and the headphones. He set it to automatic shuffle for Hiei and handed it to him. "It'll be useful for car rides. You won't have to hear Yusuke or Kuwabara's voices."

"I'm starting to like this iPod thing already."

"Well, let's go, then," Kurama said, shaking his head. Hiei nodded and followed him out, taking one last look at the closet door to assure that it was shut, and waiting to hear the small _click _of this door before he let go of the knob.


	10. Chapter 10

"_Rabble rabble, bitch bitch, rebel_ _rebel, party party, sex sex sex, and don't forget the violence!"_

Hiei's eyes shot open at the sound of the disturbing words blaring through the headphones. _This sounds like something Yusuke would write and or sing... Or what he thinks of,_ the fire apparition thought. He sat up from leaning against the window and looked at the screen of the iPod in confusion. _This is the New Shit? What kind of song is this? _he thought. He pushed the play/pause button and sat back against the seat.

"Is something wrong, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"No. I just... woke up."

"You've been in your room sleeping since a little we got back at about three in the afternoon yesterday," Yusuke said. "You getting sick or something?"

"I'm fine. I'm just tired. I don't usually sleep well."

"Okay, then, but with all of those energy drinks you drink, I'm not surprised."

"It can't be them. That 'caffeine' substance doesn't work on demons for some reason. They're the only things in the human world that I can tolerate the taste of. I don't know why I can't sleep."

"You an imsomaniac or somethin'?" Kuwabara asked.

"The word is 'insomniac', not 'imsomaniac', dumbass," Yusuke said. "Hey, Kurama, is imsomaniac even a word?"

"No."

"Nice job, Kuwabara," Yusuke said, laughing and hitting his friend on the shoulder.

Hiei rolled his eyes and pressed the play/pause button again. _Kurama was right about this. It _is_ perfect for car rides._ Eventually, he leant against the window and fell asleep again.

"Hiei, wake up," Kurama said, shaking the demon's shoulder.

Hiei groaned and opened one eye to look at the redhead. "What?" he asked. He pushed the play/pause button and turned to face him.

"We're at the store now. It's time to wake up and go inside."

Hiei shoved the iPod and headphones into his pocket and unbuckled his seat belt. He got out of the car and stretched. _I wonder if I'll be able to move the wolf out of the closet without Kurama or anyone else noticing somehow? _he thought. _Oh well. I'll figure something out. _

Kurama locked the car and they all walked to the store.

The car pulled into the driveway of the team's home and they began to unload their things from the car. The last things that were carried in were the two cases of Monster that Hiei had gotten. When he put them on the kitchen floor, Kurama sighed.

"One of these days, we're getting you a miniature refrigerator for your room," the kitsune said.

"I can drink them room temperature. I'll store them in my room if you don't want them making your precious kitchen looking messy," Hiei replied, picking the top case up and walking towards his bedroom. He put it in the corner of the room on his floor and went downstairs for the other one.

"Hiei, look, I didn't mean for you to take it that way. You don't have to keep them in your room if you don't want to."

"It's fine. We don't want to upset Mommy by having cases of energy drinks and other junk food in the kitchen for her next visit, now do we?"

Before Kurama could reply, Hiei picked up the case and took it to his room. He put it on top of the other one and closed and locked his door. He lied back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He remembered the last time Kurama's family had come to visit. They had all looked at him like he was some sort of... freak. _Is that all I am to those people? _he thought. _A freak? _He remembered hearing Kakota, Kurama's younger stepbrother, asking the fox if the "emo" kid had a mental disorder or was just some sort of freak through an open window while he was sitting in the living room.

Hiei's eyelids began to grow heavier and heavier and he felt himself begin to fall into yet another deep, dreamless sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

A loud knock sounded on Hiei's bedroom door. He groaned and opened his crimson eyes.

"What?" he growled.

"You sleeping again, Hiei?" Kuwabara asked. "Well, the girls are here for dinner, now get downstairs!"

"No."

"Why not? You've been in your room all day today, yesterday, and the day before! You sick or somethin'?"

"No. Now leave me alone. I'm tired, you idiot."

"Well, you sure are tired a lot. Now just chug one of those energy drinks and get downstairs!"

"You moron, 'caffeine' doesn't affect demons. Now go away."

"I'll send Kurama up here if you don't listen."

"Like I'm afraid of that gender-confused fox..."

"Hiei. I'm right here," a very angry sounding Kurama said from behind the door. "Now come on. Everyone's waiting for you."

"Fuck you. I'm tired. Leave me alone," Hiei snarled.

"Hiei, Koenma's coming soon. You know he comes once a month to check on us. He'll be here in a few minutes. Don't you want to show him how well behaved and civilized you've become by getting decent clothes and learning how to use more than the power and volume buttons on the television remote?" the fox reasoned.

"...No..."

"Emo bitch..." Kuwabara muttered before walking back downstairs.

Hiei growled a bit to the comment but didn't move off of his bed. "I don't want to come to dinner. I'm not going to eat it, anyway," he said. "Just let me sleep."

"Are you alright?"

Hiei heard Kurama's back hit the door as he leant against it.

"I'm fine. I just want to go to sleep."

"Alright. But if you don't get better soon, I'm going to have Koenma turn you into a mortal and I'm taking you to a doctor."

"I'll be fine, Kurama."

"Can you at least come down in about half an hour?"

"Maybe. If I don't fall asleep again. And don't use your little 'skeleton key' threat. I stuffed the lock with hot glue from the 'glue gun' I found in the hall closet," the Fire Apparition said.

The Kitsune's sigh could be heard, as well as the creaking of the door from his weight being lifted off of it.

_Maybe now I can just rest, _Hiei thought. He sighed and closed his eyes after pulling the thick black blanket up to his chin.

Right when he began to grow comfortable and feel warm, he heard the light scratching at his closet door and the high pitched whimpering again. He growled at the sound and decided to try and ignore it by pulling his pillow over his head, not wanting to move from his comfortable, warm bed. The scratching and whining only grew louder, and then stopped after a pathetic, low-pitched whimper.

Hiei returned his head to its rightful place on top of the pillow and closed his red eyes. Eventually, he drifted off into a dreamless, empty sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Red eyes opened to see a pair of brown and a pair of green staring at him from outside of the window of his bedroom. The Spirit Detective and the Kitsune were on a large, thick branch of the tree that was right outside of Hiei's room. _What a convenient place for a tree, _Hiei thought, narrowing his eyes. He growled deep within his throat and glared out at the hanyou and the demon within the human body.

**What do you want, Fox? **Hiei asked Kurama telepathically.

**It's time for you to come downstairs, **the Kitsune replied.

**Why?**

**Koenma's here for his routine visit. He wants you downstairs now.** **Get some fresh clothes on, get ready, and come downstairs. **

**Go screw yourself. Or better yet, let **_**him**_** screw **_**you. **_**Then you can both leave me the hell alone and go live happily forever and ever. Good night, I'm going back to bed, **Hiei replied calmly, removing the bandanna from his head and allowing his Jagan Eye to close the curtains and create a barrier outside of his window that not even the fox could penetrate. He closed his eyes again and was half asleep when he heard the loud, obnoxious voice of Koenma in his teenage form outside of his door.

"Hiei. Open up and come out now, or you will be given the penalty of death for direct violation of the terms of your out of Spirit World probation. You know that you must all be present at the time of my visit and evaluation. Now come out before I break this door down."

"Fine..." Hiei growled after a moment of thought. He forced himself out of bed and quickly placed his blanket over the spot in which he had been laying, hoping to preserve at least some of the warmth for when he would go and finish his nap. _I wonder why I've been so tired lately? Maybe because I always had trouble falling asleep in trees and on the ground and didn't realize it. Or my training could be catching up with me, _he thought as he pulled off his jeans and walked over to the still full shopping bags in the corner of his room in only a shirt and his boxers.

Hiei crouched down and dug through a bag and found a pair of black jeans in an identical style to the blue ones he had been wearing. He slipped them on and replaced put on a black belt with red studs on it and a red My Chemical Romance shirt. He tossed his previously worn clothes into the hamper in the corner of his room and stretched before unlocking his bedroom door and walking out of his room.

Koenma turned to face him once he heard the Fire Apparition's footsteps stop at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes widened with surprise, seeing Hiei dressed in modern clothes. Seeing the large bags under the demon's eyes made him worry a bit, as well as the cheekbones in his face that were ever-so-slightly noticeable.

"Are you feeling alright, Hiei?" Koenma asked.

The demon nodded and a defensive look flashed in his crimson eyes.

"Well, it's just that you look really tired, and I can sort of see your cheekbones."

"I'm fine," Hiei replied slowly and slightly menacingly.

"Alright, alright," Koenma replied, backing away a few steps. "You just look a little ill."

"Well, I'm not. And I don't know why you keep asking me this. Isn't one answer enough for you?" the demon snapped.

"Hiei, just calm down, alright?" Yusuke asked. "What's your problem?"

"I was sleeping."

"That's all you've been doing for the past few days!"

"I'm tired."

"That's no reason to be a dick, Hiei," Kuwabara said, walking into the living room from the hallway.

"Did any of you hear the phrase 'Let sleeping dogs lie'? Well, it goes for demons, too. I'm going back to bed!" Hiei snapped. He walked upstairs and into his room. He slammed the door shut and looked to his closet. The door was open already, and his bedroom door had been as well.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry about the long wait, guys. I had writer's block for a while, then I had issues with my laptop cord and had to wait for one to be delivered. But, I have it now, and I should be okay with writing, so... Yeah. Not such a great chapter. It'll get better soon.

--

"Hiei, could you come downstairs, please?" Kurama called out from the living room.

_Damn. Did they find her? _Hiei thought. He walked down the stairs, trying to be calm. Something told him that the "euthanize" thing was not good for the wolf.

He calmed down when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw everyone, including Koenma and the girls, standing or sitting in the living room empty handed.

"Hiei, we've chosen to go out for dinner, seeing as two people who are currently in this room and who know who they are, decided to eat almost everything we bought for tonight's dinner as snacks," Kurama said, turning to look at Yusuke and Kuwabara midway through the speech.

"And you're telling me this... why?" Hiei asked with a rather agitated tone.

"Just shut the hell up and get in the car, Emo!" Kuwabara snapped. "I'm hungry!"

"Like I care about whether your gluttonous ass gets any food or not! It's not like there's a refrigerator or any cupboards you can raid or anything," Hiei snarled.

"Hiei, just get in the damned car, or I will be forced to lock you away for anger issues!" Koenma shouted.

"Hiei, you can just listen to music and ignore everyone," Kurama said. "Wouldn't that be a lot easier than being locked away in some Spirit World mental institution?"

"I don't want to go. I was out yesterday and the day before. I would like to stay home today."

"You're just going to sleep. And then you'll have too much energy and not want to sleep tonight, and then you're going to go out and train, and with your luck, some demons are going to attack you, and we won't notice because we'll all be sleeping, and you could end up bleeding to death," Kurama reasoned.

"Bleeding to death would be much better than having to live with you three, in my opinion," Hiei replied. Before anyone could say anything, he was walking upstairs, hoping to get a glimpse of the wolf as he looked around the second floor hallway. He saw nothing, not even a stray strand of silver fur on the floor. He growled to himself for not making sure that the door was shut and sulked into his room and grabbed the iPod that he had left on his desk next to the laptop that after over a year, he had used for the first time a few days before.

Hiei returned downstairs a few moments later with his iPod and headphones jammed in the pocket of his jeans. He said nothing to anyone and walked outside of the house and took his usual seat in the front passenger side of Kurama's blue car. He put the headphones in his ears and searched his iPod library. Eventually he gave up looking for something specific and went back to the main menu and selected the convenient Shuffle option. After a fifty five second intro to the song:

"_Should have known how hard it is to stop_

_tearing each other apart._

_Separating souls entwined_

_in all these labyrinthine lies_.."

Kurama opened the driver's side door and sat in the seat. He looked at Hiei, who had turned towards the window upon his entry, before putting the key in the ignition and turning it. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Koenma jumped into the three back seats and Kurama waited for the girls to pile into Shizuru's car before pulling out of the driveway.

On the way to their chosen restaurant, which no one bothered telling Hiei the name of, no one spoke. Or, at least Hiei didn't hear if anyone did. He lazily looked out the window of the car and sighed. He saw a little boy and his father walking a large, grey husky and thought of the wolf. _I couldn't find her before I left, _he thought, biting his lip. _What if she breaks something or gets into something and they think there's a problem and call someone? _

Hiei sighed when they pulled into Keiko's parents' Ramen House. _I should have known..._ he thought as he got out of the car when it stopped. He stretched and put his iPod and headphones in his pocket and waited for everyone else. They walked in the restaurant and sat in two booths. The others placed their orders and Keiko's mother looked at Hiei.

"And for you?"

"Just coffee."

"Cream, sugar?"

"Black is fine."

Keiko's mother nodded and left to get the food and drinks.


	14. Chapter 14

Hiei's heart was pounding by the time Kurama pulled into the driveway of the team's large house. When the kitsune finally stopped the car, the Fire Apparition got out and walked right inside without a word. He sighed with relief, seeing no damage done to the bottom floor of the house. He didn't even catch the wolf's scent. _She has to be upstairs then, _he thought as he climbed the stairs to go to his room.

He searched the entire place over. He looked under the bed and blankets, in the closet, in his clothing bags (that he still hadn't emptied for some reason), and anywhere else he could think of. He even checked his dresser drawers and the cabinet under the bathroom sink.

After about an hour, he gave up and started picking up his now destroyed bedroom. He put his mattress back on the box spring, which he had to put back in the bed frame, and started hanging his new clothes in his closet. He sighed as he hung his last pair of pants and then tossed all of his belts, socks, and boxers into the top dresser drawer. He walked over to his bed and plopped down on his back, folding his thin arms behind his head.

"Hiei, you okay?" Yusuke asked from his doorway.

_Damn,_ the demon thought. _I left the door open... _"..." He simply turned his attention back to the ceiling.

Unfortunately for him, ignoring the detective didn't make him leave. He hear the footsteps enter his room and stop by the bed. There was a small noise as a white container was put on the night stand. Crimson eyes shifted to the source of the sound.

"Keiko's mother got worried about you not eating, and she sent these for you," Yusuke said. "It's just beef with teriyaki sauce on it and cooked into it."

"..." The demon looked away and up to the ceiling. He heard the human sigh and then the retreat of shoeless footsteps. _I don't even eat meat, _he thought, glaring at the container. _Not since..._

"_Boss, is it time to eat yet?" the five year old Hiei asked. His stomach growled from not eating all day, seeing as he was left at the camp with the other subordinates, who weren't as kind to him as the leader was. He sat patiently in the table and wiggled his first loose tooth with his tongue._

"_Almost. Now go tell Kohaku to start cooking," the leader of the thieves said, "I'll be out in a few minutes."_

_The young boy nodded and got off of his chair. He went into the dining area and looked for the chef, hoping that they were the only two in the room... Er... the cave, actually. If there were other thieves in there, he could count on a boiling water shower while Kohaku was tied up in the back of the cave and could only watch as his precious cooking tools were used to harm the young boy. _

"_It's okay, Hiei. No one's in here but us," Kohaku said, stirring a pot of something. Hiei grinned a little and sat on the stool near the stove. Kohaku tossed him an apple and he caught it. He sank his fangs into the sweet fruit and bit a piece._

"_So, I'm guessing I started cooking at the right time, then?"_

_Hiei nodded as he swallowed his bite. He looked down at his apple and saw a small spot of redness in the white fruit. His eyes widened and he touched his loose tooth with his tongue and tasted blood._

"_Is something wrong, Hiei?"_

"_My tooth is bleeding."_

"_Hm? The loose one?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Oh, that just means it's ready to come out. Give it a quick tug. Or do you want me to do it?"_

"_You're cooking, though."_

"_Actually, I started early today. I'm done now," he replied, wiping his hands dry with a rag. "Now let me see," he said, walking over to the young demon. _

_Hiei nodded and opened his mouth. Kohaku's eyes widened a bit and he laughed. "You know, around this area, they say losing one of your canines means you'll have a good life if it's your first tooth. Ready for me to pull it?"_

"_Uh-huh."_

"_Alright. One, two, three!" On three, he yanked the young demon's fang out and put it in a small fabric bag. He gave the bag to Hiei. "Here."_

_Hiei took the bag and put it in his pocket. He walked out of the cooking cave and into the one he and the leader of the thieves shared. He put his tooth into his pillowcase and then walked out to the dining cave. He took his seat at the table and saw a large steak on his plate. A few of the other thieves were there. Most of them were probably still sitting in their caves, gambling, doing drugs, or drinking. The leader wasn't there, and neither was Kohaku. The young boy saw that some of the thieves were already eating their steaks, and the rest were sitting out on all of the plates. He looked down at his and cut into it with his knife and noticed that it came out of the meat... oddly coloured. And not to mention that the meat smelled funny. _

_He seperated the chunk of meat from the rest of the steak and saw nothing appeared to be wrong with it. He put the steak in his mouth and he could have sworn the rest of the meat... moved? He didn't chew his bite. He just plunged his utensils into the center of the steak and pulled it apart, only to see maggots spill out of it. He spit his bite out immediately and ran out of the dining cave, hearing a few snickers as he ran past. He almost ran into Kohaku, who was carrying a large, hot pot of soup, and ran behind a tree and vomited. _

"_Hiei? Are you okay?" Kohaku ran inside and put the pot down and ran back out to Hiei._

"_Th-they gave me a steak with m-maggots in it," he choked out before throwing up again. Kohaku sighed and knelt down by the young boy and rubbed his back. He tried to comfort him, but to no avail._

Hiei shuddered from the memory and was almost asleep. He closed his crimson eyes and then heard a very angry Kurama shout from downstairs.

"Can I see all three of you down here? Now?!"

_Uh-oh, _the Fire Apparition thought.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before standing and walking downstairs after Yusuke and Kuwabara. All three stood in the living room, facing Kurama's back. He was obviously holding something. Or perhaps his arms were folded. The Fire Apparition bit his lip as the Kitsune turned around to reveal a small silvery-grey bundle of fur in his arms.


	15. Chapter 15

"May I ask why I found a wolf roaming around my bedroom?" the redhead asked, a look of anger flickering in his green eyes.

Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at Kurama blankly. Hiei tried his hardest to keep the same look in his eyes that he had maintained since he was put on his probation. Dead and blank. He stared at the sleeping pup in the former kitsune's arms.

"Is it dead?" Yusuke asked. "It ain't moving."

"No. She's sleeping. Tearing my things apart must have tired her out."

_Damn... _Hiei thought. _The one day the fox doesn't leave his door closed... Hopefully, he'll mention giving her to Yukina then..._

A little whine sounded out as the silver furball moved. Tiny white teeth were visible as she yawned and opened her eyes. She looked at the three standing in front of her captor and whimpered when she saw the Fire Apparition. She struggled to get down, causing Kurama to tighten his grip.

"Which one of you was keeping the wolf here?" Kurama asked, looking back and forth from Yusuke to Kuwabara. He felt he wouldn't have to worry about Hiei. Knowing that the demon was having trouble tolerating most humans, he wouldn't go out of his way to hide and raise an animal, right?

The pup whimpered again, louder this time, and struggled more and more to get down. Eventually she stopped moving and sighed. She kept staring at Hiei with big, pathetic blue eyes.

"If none of you are going to talk, I'm going to have to- Ow!" he dropped the pup and held his wrist. She hit the ground and whined loudly before standing up and shaking off.

_No. Stay there, stay there, _Hiei thought. He found it harder to maintain the blank look on his face as the pup looked up and toddled over to him. She sat at his feet and her little tail swished back and forth. Her tongue hung out of the side of her mouth and she tilted her head to the side as she whined up at him. The Fire Apparition made no movement and looked up from the wolf and towards Kurama.

"_You_, Hiei?" the redhead asked, his eyes widening. The demon nodded and didn't pay any attention to his other two teammates, who were staring at him with confusion in their eyes.

"Hiei, you know the danger of keeping a wild animal in the house. You were present for Yusuke's _and _Kuwabara's lectures. Why did you hide the wolf, and how long have you had it?"

"For a few days. I went for a walk one night and caught the scent of blood, followed it, and saw her. I thought she was dead so I used my sword to start digging a hole to bury her in, and when I got pretty far, she whimpered. I thought she was going to die anyway, so I just took her here to at least try and help before she died. I don't know why. Anyway, she survived. I was planning on asking Yukina to take her."

"Holy crap," Yusuke started, "Hiei spoke _more _than two whole words!"

The demon growled and punched the human's shoulder rather hard. Yusuke yelped and pushed Kuwabara in between himself and the inhuman being. Kurama sighed. _I had better end this now. _Without a word, he walked in front of Hiei, stooped down, and picked the wolf pup up. He walked towards the front door.

"Where are you going with her?" Hiei asked without turning around.

"The only sensible thing right now. She won't survive in the wild, and because she has the scent of us on her, she'll be killed or kicked out of the pack to die of starvation. Plus, she can't be adopted into a home. I have no choice but to take her to the animal shelter and have her euthanized," the fox replied. After that, he walked out of the team's house.

"Hiei, you're just going to let him euthanize the wolf you went out of your way to care for and hide for a few days?" Kuwabara asked.

"What does that word even mean?" Hiei asked. _Why am I getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach? Why does this feel like something bad?_

"Hiei, 'euthanasia' is the term used for when a veterinarian or shelter worker injects a fluid into an animal that makes them go to sleep, and then die," Yusuke explained. "He's taking her to get killed."

Hiei froze.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: **

Hey. Z here.

I want to apologize to all of you for such a long wait. What has it been since the last chapter was put up? Eight months? Well, like I said, I'm sorry. My flash drive was frequently running away (coughTheCatStoleItcough) or getting lost, and there were times I tried to work on it, but had that terrible thing called writers' block.

So, now, I give you all a gift for making you wait so long – _The final chapter of _Katana!

* * *

I really hope this makes up for the wait. I'm really sorry, everyone. 41 reviews on , and a lot of people in 's Yu Yu Hakusho Brigade were helping me get writing again before my trip to Europe.

Well, I've held you up for too long now. I give you, the suspenseful conclusion to my first YYH fanfiction, _Katana:_

The demon's eyes glowed a pale shade of red as he clenched his fists. "What did you say?" he asked, his voice low and menacing.

"Uhh... Kurama's... Taking the wolf to the animal shelter to be... killed?" Yusuke asked uncertainly, backing away from the angered Hiei.

A low growl came from Hiei's throat as his fists clenched tighter. A small amount of blood dripped onto the carpet, a result of his nails digging into his calloused palms. The red glow of his eyes brightened and his teeth clenched. "I'm going to kill that fox." Then, he disappeared.

After rummaging through the trunk of his car to find something to put the pup in, Kurama sat in the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. He looked in the cardboard fruit box at the whining bundle of silver, he sighed. _I'm doing what's best for her, _he thought, _So... Why do I feel so terrible about all of this? _He looked at the pup again and saw her cowering in the corner of the box farthest away from him. He sighed again and turned the keys to start the car. As he turned around and began to drive down the long driveway that separated the team's house from the main road, _BANG!_

The car began to rumble uncontrollably. The pup yelped from the loud sound and began whining and scratching to be let out of the box. Kurama slammed on the brakes, causing the box to tumble forward onto the floor, and turned the car off. _What happened?!_ He unbuckled his seat belt and quickly opened the door. As soon as his feet hit the ground, his back and head soon joined them. The fox frantically sat up and looked around, eventually to lock his gaze into the crimson eyes of the Fire Apparition. "Hiei? What's the meaning of this?!" he asked, standing up. He looked at his car and saw a silver katana sticking out of his driver side tire. "Do you have any idea how much it costs to have a tire replaced?!"

"I don't care." The demon didn't break his cold gaze. "It's not alive, is it? Does it really matter?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Why are you taking the wolf to be killed? What did she do that was so wrong?"

"Hiei, you don't understand. She is a _wild animal_. She has no place in a house being raised like a dog. Her instincts will kick in, and she can bite someone or an animal of theirs, or worse. She is a danger to us and to everyone who comes near her. This is the best thing for her."

"You're not even giving her a chance. What happened to you always saying not to judge a book by its cover? As far as I'm concerned, this is the same situation you kept describing to me. She does _look_ like a wild animal, but who knows? She might not end up _acting_ like one."

The fox sighed. "I understand what you're getting at. But owning a purebred wolf is illegal."

"We can say she's a dog and wolf mix. She's small for her age."

As Kurama was about to reply, another car came up the driveway. It parked in front of the house, and Shizuru, Keiko, Yukina, and Botan climbed out.

"Hey," Botan yelled, waving and running over. She stopped when she saw the sword in the car tire and looked at Hiei. She sighed. "You know, Hiei, this isn't going to help Koenma pardon you any sooner."

"I needed to do it."

"Why?" Keiko asked as she and the other two girls joined the group.

Hiei opened his mouth to reply and then closed it when he heard a high pitched sound. He turned around to see the pup jump out of the car and run over to him. He picked her up and three of the girls began petting her head and ears while fussing over her as if she were a human baby while the fourth casually lit her cigarette and looked on.

"It's so cute!" Botan exclaimed, rubbing a tiny pointed ear in between her index finger and thumb.

"Is it yours? Why was it in Kurama's car?" Keiko asked.

"He was taking her to a shelter to be killed because she's a 'wild animal'," he said, looking down at the pup a little sadly.

"Why can't she stay with you?" Yukina asked. "Why does she have to be killed?"

Kurama sighed. "Fine. You win. Don't say I didn't warn you if she decides to bite somebody," he said, heading for the house. "And I expect you to at least find a way to pay for my new tire." Before the demon could reply, the redhead was already in the house.

Hiei sighed and looked at the pup. She wriggled around and managed to lick his chin, causing a corner of his mouth to lift very slightly into a half-smirk. _We won, _he thought.

"Hiei, what's her name?" Yukina asked.

"Name?"

"Yeah. You're supposed to name pets, like how my little brother named his cat Eikichi, remember?" Shizuru asked, throwing her cigarette butt on the ground and stomping on it.

"Oh." He looked around and saw something shiny sticking out of Kurama's car tire. The very object that had saved her live three times. Once, the small blade taking too long to make a decent-sized grave, preventing her from being buried alive and suffocating in the earth. The second time, he had given himself a wound, making the "training accident" a believable excuse for a missing first aid kit. And the third time, getting thrown into the tire of a car.

"Katana."


End file.
